Title:

From Haptics to Cardiac Assistance: Soft Robotics in Medicine

Speaker:

Prof. Amy Kyungwon Han

Affiliation:

Seoul National University

When:

Friday, May 16, 2025 at 11:00:00 AM   Add to Calendar

Where:

MRDC Building, Room 4211

Host:

Yan Wang
yan-wang@gatech.edu
4048944714

Abstract

Soft robotics offers unique advantages for medical applications through its inherent compliance, adaptability, and safety in interacting with the human body. However, challenges remain in actuation, sensing, and system integration, particularly in environments constrained by imaging modalities, biocompatibility requirements, and the need for minimally invasive intervention. This talk will present soft robotic technologies designed to address these challenges across multiple domains, including MR-compatible haptic devices for image-guided procedures, soft cardiac assistive devices, and a haptic interface for a lump simulation. Emphasis will be placed on mechanism design and system-level integration strategies that enable stable, low-power operation in dynamic and constrained physiological environments.

Biography

Amy Kyungwon Han is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Seoul National University in Seoul, Korea. She was a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University and received a Ph.D. and M.S. from Stanford University and a B.S. from Georgia Tech. Her research includes soft actuators, sensors, medical robotics, haptics, and biomimetics. Prof. Han's awards include the MIT Technology Review's Innovators Under 35 Asia Pacific, Rising Star of RoboSoft, Nokov ICRA New Generation Star, APBEC Young Scholar Award, Best RA-L Paper Award, and ICRA Best Poster Presentation. She was also recognized as one of the 50 Women in Robotics and a Rising Star in Mechanical Engineering. In addition to her research and academic work, she serves as an associate vice president of the Technical Activities Board and as a co-chair of the Technical Committee on Haptics within the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society.

Notes

Meet the speaker